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墨書 Inktalez
Someone asked the sage, "What is higher than the sky and broader than the sea?" The sage placed his hand on his heart and replied, "It is the human heart." But is this truly the case? In this world of circumstances and coincidences, the hearts of the Buddha's disciples cannot be fathomed; how can they be measured by human hearts?
Take Li Wushuang and Xu Zhen for example. They usually do not see eye to eye and have no affection for each other. Yet at this moment, Xu Zhen is fighting desperately for survival, even at the cost of her life, demonstrating a bond of life and death in adversity.
Xu Zhen has been injured for Li Mingda, for Caesar, for many Brothers, and has suffered for the sake of war. However, she never thought she would be injured for Li Wushuang.
Yet now, she is covered in blood but refuses to surrender, while Li Wushuang hides behind her, completely unharmed!
"Ha..."
Xu Zhen let out a long breath, slowly loosening her soft whip and setting Li Wushuang down. Without looking back, she said softly, "You should go..."
As if to conserve every ounce of strength, her voice was not loud. However, when it reached Li Wushuang, it resonated like the Spring Thunder of Awakening of Insects!
"I won't go! I want... I want to live or die with Brother Xu!"
Before she could finish her sentence, another Tubo Soldier charged at her. Xu Zhen took a deep breath and fought fiercely for three exchanges before slaying him at her feet, but now she had another wound on her left chest!
"Clang!"
The tip of the Black Iron Curved Blade pierced the ground as Xu Zhen leaned on her sword for support, gasping for breath. After enduring a grueling battle against encirclement, her strength was already depleted. She thought that while she still had breath left, she should cover Li Wushuang's escape as far as possible.
But this girl was stubborn and did not appreciate Xu Zhenzhi's good intentions. Her feminine fragility was fully displayed at this moment; she simply refused to leave Xu Zhen behind.
Xu Zhenxin, filled with anger, turned his back on Li Wushuang and shouted, "Get out of here quickly! Don't disturb your young master's interest! If it weren't for you cherishing your own life, would there be this fight? If it weren't for your weakness, would you have been so severely injured and dragged down this general? If you don't leave now, do you intend to bring about my demise?"
Each word from Xu Zhen pierced deeply into Li Wushuang's heart, causing tears to roll down her cheeks. Yet she understood that Xu Zhen only wanted to use her own life to buy her a chance to escape; thus, she was even more unwilling to leave.
Murong Hanzhu's gaze fell upon Xu Zhen, filled with complex emotions. From her, he saw the heroic figure he longed to become; yet he also felt mockery towards her actions.
Among a group of sixteen people, seven had already fallen at the hands of Xu Zhen. Though Murong Hanzhu lacked martial skills and merely coordinated from the sidelines, he could still sense the fierce determination of Xu Zhen, who faced death without fear!
He had once thought about giving up on the Xu Zhen and killing her, but he could not determine the exact identity of Li Wushuang and whether her significance outweighed that of the Xu Zhen. Therefore, capturing both the Xu Zhen and Li Wushuang alive remained the best strategy.
The remaining nine were all Tubo People. Seeing the bravery of the Xu Zhen, they became even more convinced of the rumors surrounding her. Remembering her nickname "Firewood Man," they felt a chill in their hearts and dared not engage her alone, instead surrounding her once again.
As Li Wushuang was also unable to escape, the Xu Zhen said nothing more. She pulled Li Wushuang close and handed her the Black Iron Curved Blade, then expressionlessly said, "I'm tired; you hold on for a while."
Li Wushuang immediately wiped away her tears and nodded firmly, "Okay!"
In the midst of their conversation, Murong Hanzhu urged them on fiercely. Three Tubo Soldiers could not resist military orders and charged forward again. Li Wushuang gritted her teeth in agreement and swung the curved blade, while the Xu Zhen's eyes suddenly turned icy as she grabbed a soft leather whip. With a sharp crack, the whip coiled around the neck of a Tubo Army soldier on her left, pulling him down to the ground!
Seizing the opportunity, the Xu Zhen stepped on the man's head, making a crunching sound beneath her foot. She picked up his horizontal blade and took a defensive stance back-to-back with Li Wushuang.
Murong Hanzhu finally became enraged. He did not expect the Xu Zhen to be so tenacious, nor did he anticipate her exceptional swordsmanship. He was even more surprised that she remained standing despite being severely injured!
He had an ominous premonition, feeling that Ger Qinlin could not hold out much longer. If they could not capture the Xu Zhen, their only option would be to retreat and plead for forgiveness.
At this moment, a vicious plan surged into his mind that he could not erase: if they killed the Xu Zhen, it might provoke great anger from the Tang Dynasty. In that case, even if Qizong Nongsan agreed to Lu Dongzan's suggestion of retreating and seeking forgiveness, the Tang Dynasty might not accept it. The war would turn around, becoming one where the Tang sought to conquer Tuguhun!
With this thought in mind, he shouted loudly, "Kill them!"
The remaining Tubo Army was shaken but their eyes burned with endless killing intent. Although they feared the Xu Zhen's Zoroastrian identity, many of their brothers had died at her hands, igniting their hatred and fury. With Murong Hanzhu's command, they finally united and charged at the Xu Zhen and Li Wushuang with seven or eight men intending to chop them into pieces!
However, at that critical moment between life and death, a powerful crossbow bolt suddenly shot in from afar, piercing through one Tubo Soldier's life!
This arrow acted like a fuse igniting a powder keg; iron arrows flew in succession as Tubo Soldiers fell one after another!
Murong Hanzhu suddenly looked up to see Zhou Cang leading the Red Armored Fourteen Guards rushing towards them!
"Retreat! Quickly retreat!"
Murong Hanzhu clearly understood the strength of Zhou Cang and the others, and he knew they had the Yuanrong Crossbow in their hands. At this moment, it was impossible to shoot down Xu Zhen and Li Wushuang. If they delayed even for a moment, they would never be able to leave this place. He immediately mounted his warhorse, raising a cloud of dust as he fled toward Gansong Ridge.
At this time, Li Wushuang still clutched her Black Iron Curved Blade, trembling uncontrollably, murmuring something like a frightened she-wolf, fierce and wild!
When Xu Zhen gently placed her hand over Li Wushuang's and took the curved blade away, Li Wushuang could no longer hold back and let out a cry before collapsing into Xu Zhen's arms, sobbing uncontrollably.
Xu Zhen swayed a few times before collapsing to the ground.
Zhou Cang and the others rushed over in a panic, hurriedly rescuing Xu Zhen and Li Wushuang, taking them to the Governor's Office.
Li Daozong saw that his daughter had been rescued and inquired about the situation at that time. He was overwhelmed with gratitude toward Xu Zhen and quickly summoned the military doctor to treat her wounds. At that moment, Liu Shenwei had already gone with the army to Yingzhou and could not treat Xu Zhen's injuries. Li Daozong had no choice but to gather all the military doctors to treat her wounds.
Li Wushuang's thigh injury had already begun to heal due to Xu Zhen's treatment, but after some movement, the wound reopened. Being a young lady, to avoid suspicion, Li Daozong could only call Zhang Suling over to bandage his daughter's wounds.
They were busy until nightfall before everything was settled. Xu Zhen and Li Wushuang had narrowly escaped with their lives. Li Daozong was furious and ordered Niu Jinda and Liu Lan along with other generals to rush to Gansong Ridge overnight. Zhou Cang and the others were eager for revenge; they took three hundred of Xu Zhen's personal guards and brought all the Awakening of Insects with them. With Ginger Sage personally supervising, they marched toward Gansong Ridge in great numbers!
Zhang Suling was concerned about her Lord. When she saw that Li Wushuang had awakened, she left her maidservant to attend to her and came over to personally serve Xu Zhen.
Once Li Wushuang saw Zhang Suling leave, she took out a small black knife from her belongings and wiped it clean with silk cloth, revealing a blue-and-white blade—it was the flying knife that Xu Zhen had used to treat her wounds.
She stared blankly at the bed curtains, her thoughts drifting back to that rainy night in the cave. Her face flushed as she held the small knife close to her chest and fell into a deep sleep.
She dreamed of Xu Zhen but did not see her; instead, there was Li Mingda. The little girl was carefully preserving several colorful stones, her face filled with pride because they were all gifts from Xu Zhen.
At this moment, Li Wushuang finally understood that some seemingly worthless things become incredibly precious once imbued with meaning. She could finally empathize with Li Mingda's feelings.
Xu Zhen was unaware of what had transpired in the battle at Gansong Ridge. When she woke up, she saw Zhang Suling's mischievous smile.
"Is she... okay?"
Zhang Suling nodded, and Xu Zhen finally breathed a sigh of relief. Under Zhang Suling's care, she drank half a bowl of plain porridge and fell into a deep sleep again.
By the next day, the army still had not returned, but Xu Zhen's spirits had recovered. After drinking porridge in the morning, her appetite grew, and by noon, she was served meat and wine, regaining her strength.
Her physical body had been transformed by the Seven Sacred Blade Secret Techniques and had been practicing Yoga Techniques every night. At this moment, the effects finally manifested. The Seven Sacred Blades and Yoga Techniques controlled the contraction of her muscles, allowing her wounds to close tightly without needing stitches. This was one of the reasons she survived; otherwise, with her level of injury, she would have bled to death long before Zhou Cang and the others could rescue her.
After eating and drinking to her fill, she fell asleep again, this time sleeping until evening when Li Daozong and others finally returned victorious from Gansong Ridge!
Worried about Xu Zhen's safety, Zhou Cang rushed into the room. Zhang Suling couldn't hold him back, and Xu Zhen was suddenly awakened. Upon hearing that Gansong Ridge had achieved a great victory thanks to Jingzhe Thunder's efforts, she felt immense joy.
After a moment, Li Daozong, who had not yet removed his armor, led Niu Jinda and other generals along with Ginger Sage and other key figures to visit Xu Zhen. They informed her that Tuguhun had retreated and would soon send envoys to Chang'an to personally submit a surrender document and seek forgiveness!
Xu Zhen recalled Murong Hanzhu's vicious gaze as he fled and couldn't feel happy inside. However, the situation in Songzhou had finally stabilized. The Tang army suffered few casualties; aside from Niu Jinda's initial reckless advance that cost over two thousand men, subsequent battles were all victories.
In this campaign, they killed over three thousand enemies and captured more than one hundred thousand cattle, horses, and sheep. The spoils were countless, showcasing their might beyond the borders and demonstrating the grandeur of the Tang Dynasty!
Seeing that his daughter and Xu Zhen were unharmed and that the battle was a resounding success, Li Daozong ordered rewards for the troops. Soon they would return home amidst cheers that echoed throughout Songzhou!
However, Li Wushuang frowned deeply as she caressed a small flying dagger in her arms. She struggled internally; perhaps this time she would finally solidify her resolve not to see anyone die for her again.
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